[mlyle]

> The cost imposed is proportional to the fee, since the fee has to pay for the electricity used to mine the transaction.

No. Miners get rewards for mining blocks, which pay for 80%. Transaction fees don't pay for the electricity used in a transaction: not even close.

> If you believe the electricity consumption in general has huge externalities

Well, sure, I believe that electricity is artificially cheap. I also believe that spending $50+ of electricity per transaction done is absolutely nuts. And that amount is steadily increasing...

[Anderkent]

Hm, OK, I was wrong about the ratio of fees to reward. Good news is that reward is going to halve every 4 years so in 12 years it's probably going to be much more even.